Semi-OT? WWDC Predictions!

-Voice Control can finally allow you to do much more “locally” on your iPhone. Set appointments, alarm clocks, turn on/off Airplane Mode, etc. Internet-type service integration with Voice Control is fine too I guess, but let’s get the basics right first. It doesn’t make sense to me to be able to book a restaurant reservation with Voice Control but not be able to switch on Wi-Fi, for example.

-New notification styles, such as cable news-style ticker types that fly across little strips on the top or bottom of the screen. And since one size doesn’t fit all, at least a couple of notification methods - including the old way? - will be available.

-Improved multitasking modalities. That multi-touch chord stuff like “three fingers to swap between recent applications” I thought I saw somewhere looks really, really cool. An Expose-like way to see “open” apps, as I believe Lion promises to do (or, if you speak only iOS, an extension of Safari’s tiled tabbed browsing interface).

-More fine-grained control over multitasking. Manually quitting apps can be a minor pain and with so many apps, you can have dozens of apps in the “carousel” within days. iOS should have more strict limits (at least as an option) on number of apps that can take up resources (Apple already has something like this, but by the time you hit that “limit” you can already detect “slowdown”). Until iPhone 5 and/or 2+ GB of RAM standard, it’s still very easy to get your iPhone to bog down even with the smart, battery-friendly multitasking Apple’s implemented.

iCloud:

-Paid service, but with a new free option or two for iPhone/iPad folks, such as basic backup syncing to the cloud (contacts, lists of apps downloaded for quick restoring if iPhone is lost/needs replacement, maybe a certain amount of e-mail and SMS too).

-MobileMe will be transitioned, with no disruption to existing users except logging in to icloud.com and redesigned existing services

-“Castle” will be revealed as Apple’s online secure backup service (paid).

-Personally not too interested in music/media locker if it exists until I see demos.

One More Thing? I say there is. You guys all know what I think it is. On this one, I will stubbornly look to WWDC history until it’s no longer repeated. One cool new feature - borrowed from iChat, multi-user (3 max) FaceTime!

iOS 5 detects you’re in a moving vehicle and disable phone/texting/email functions of unit. It’s an option that can be turned on/off with a password (parental control). With this new feature, iOS devices will become the device of choice among teenager parents all over the world.

I think there’s a reason iCloud, Lion, and iOS 5 are all being unveiled together and there is going to be some major integration between all three.

I’m hoping iCloud is basically an Apple Time Capsule stored in the cloud. A user with Lion on their Mac will select all the folders they want stored on iCloud, and every hour any new files or changes to existing files will be uploaded automatically. There’ll be version history available just like with a Time Capsule and the user will be able to access these files from anywhere. Media files bought from iTunes obviously wouldn’t need to be backed up as they’d be available on demand whenever you wanted.

iOS 5 will have its iCloud access built in to any apps that use those files. If you open up Numbers on your iPad, you’ll see all the spreadsheets in your iCloud. If you open up photos on your iPhone, you’ll see all the photos in your iCloud. The cool thing about this is it would give people the ability to organize their files on iOS, something that’s been at the top of many people’s wish list. While you wouldn’t be explicity organizing files on your iPhone, you could organize them in iCloud which would then be available from your phone.

I think that given the flat stock price everyone here is looking for a home run. I don’t think Apple thinks that way. Effective selling usually shows people how they can do what they are doing now in a better manner- the more radical your innovation, the more you want to tell people that it is not a radical change. The i pad is just a large I phone. Ipod is an mp3 player. You want people to move discover things for themselves. No one in the public envisioned what Apple stores are.

Major changes in software is an asymmetrical attack. Apple says that their integrated will beats android’s open/fragmented platform. They are playing their trump card. There’s just so far you can go competing on features with a new phone every year. Just like with the PC you will get diminishing returns. Software will fundamentally change user experience- but not overnight.Developers will get it. AFB’ers may. Consumers probably won’t get it, and I doubt Apple is in a hurry for them to do so. Wall Street probably won’t get it.

Enjoy the ride and save some ammunition. Tomorrow will greatly increase AAPL’s value, but it will take a while.

Signature

The more I learn the higher I go,
The higher I go the more I see;
The more I see the less I know,
The less I know the more I’m free.

I love to pretend to peer into the future. But on this occasion, I got nothing. Apple has done a simply fabulous job of keeping this event under wraps. I expect lots and lots of surprises tomorrow.

In addition to all the wonderful things that people have already proposed, the biggest thing on my wish list is a simple way of tying all our various Apple devices together. John Gruber speculates that iCloud will be the new iTunes. If that?s all that happened tomorrow I would be satisfied.

Why? You turn on your Apple device. You type in your Apple ID. You initiate your device. You upgrade your software. You buy applications, music, movies and more. You store and co-ordinate your purchases. Anything you can hear or see on one Apple device you can hear or see on any of your other Apple devices, including your Apple TV.

Are you ever going to leave Apple if you can do all that? Can Rim and Android give you that? No, they cannot. They don?t even do computers. Will webOS and Windows 8 ever do that? Maybe, but they sure can?t do that right now. iCloud could be the glue that binds the Apple world even tighter together.

And I suspect that iCloud is only going to be the beginning of tomorrow?s fun. Stay tuned?

calebcar - any WWDC predictions to share? That seemed more like an analysis of AAPL.

Thanks for asking. I follow aapl more than the tech advances. My limited business travel and antisocial nature (I have what I see as the luxury of not carrying a cell phone) have me somewhat out of touch with the cloud possibilities. I just see past presentations as being seen as revolutionary more in retrospect than at the moment, and more revolutionary to the cogniscenti than mainstream customers and Wall Street. That’s as it should be.

Signature

The more I learn the higher I go,
The higher I go the more I see;
The more I see the less I know,
The less I know the more I’m free.

Well, maybe I’ll cause a little more trouble. Notice the hour, and how no one from, say WSJ of NYT has weighed in with last-minute leaks yet? And how no one has any friggin’ clue about iOS or iCloud - to the point of near-silence?

There’s reasons for it, I think. Steve Jobs loves to break out the anecdote of “isn’t it funny, a ship that leaks from the top.” One interpretation: Apple can, and apparently has, stepped up, uh, “operational security” until a media event. The bigger Apple gets, the less any of its partners can get away with leaks without unbelievably severe consequences. And really, no longer having a piece of business from a $100B and growing company is a big enough threat in itself.

Well, maybe I’ll cause a little more trouble. Notice the hour, and how no one from, say WSJ of NYT has weighed in with last-minute leaks yet? And how no one has any friggin’ clue about iOS or iCloud - to the point of near-silence?

There’s reasons for it, I think. Steve Jobs loves to break out the anecdote of “isn’t it funny, a ship that leaks from the top.” One interpretation: Apple can, and apparently has, stepped up, uh, “operational security” until a media event. The bigger Apple gets, the less any of its partners can get away with leaks without unbelievably severe consequences. And really, no longer having a piece of business from a $100B and growing company is a big enough threat in itself.

Well, I kind of disagree with this. Apple cannot put a complete stop to leaks when they have to deal with those outside of Apple, like the music labels or the carriers or the hardware manufacturers, etc. But anything solely within Apple’s purview is locked down tight.

iOS and iCloud are all Apple and as a result, virtually nothing has leaked out. Get ready for a wild ride. We’re in for some big, big surprises.